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O's activate Roberts from DL, designate Jurrjens

O's activate Roberts from DL, designate Jurrjens

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Roberts' injury 2:04

4/4/13: Brian Roberts suffers an injury to his leg while sliding into second base in the ninth inning and is forced to leave the game

By Derek Wetmore
/
MLB.com |

BALTIMORE -- Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was activated off the 60-day disabled list prior to the club's Sunday night game against the Yankees. Baltimore designated right-hander Jair Jurrjens for assignment to make room for Roberts' return.

"It's great. I'm excited, obviously," Roberts said. "It should be a great atmosphere. It has been all year and this weekend. I'm looking forward to being back and being part of it."

Roberts, who played just three games this season before rupturing a tendon in his right hamstring, was originally placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 5. He was off to a hot start before the injury, going 5-for-12 with a double, one RBI and one stolen base in his three games.

He went 3-for-13 (.231) with a double and one RBI over four rehab games with Triple-A Norfolk last week. Following his last game action on Friday, Roberts drove to Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, according to manager Buck Showalter.

"He's been playing at a high intensity," Showalter said on Saturday when discussing Roberts' impending return. "[Tides manager Ron Johnson] has been effusive in his praise at the way he looks and the way he goes about things. He's making a couple of good defensive plays every night, playing with ... all the jerks and twitches and things that go on down there. He [adds] a lot of intensity to the games he plays in, he's seeing a lot of pitches."

It may still take a few games, however, before Roberts feels in the flow of things at the Majors again.

"I don't know if you ever know until you really get in that atmosphere," Roberts said. "You can't really simulate game speed anywhere. I think we all understand that. You just do as much as you can to get ready and then go."

It's been a long and trying road for Roberts, who has only played in 118 games since the beginning of the 2010 season.

"It's been one of those things where there've been many days where you're wondering, 'Am I still supposed to be doing this?' or 'Can I still do this?' or 'Is it still worth it to do this?' sometimes even. But I felt like that's never been my personality to quit until I felt it was really, really time to do that," Roberts said. "For me, it was just a reliance on the people around me and my faith."

As for Jurrjens, the righty tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief on Saturday. In his only other appearance with the Orioles this season, Jurrjens allowed four runs over five innings while taking a no-decision against the Rays on May 18. If he clears waivers, a 72-hour clock starts for him to report to Triple-A Norfolk. It's a slightly unusual DFA situation, but it came about because the Orioles are under the 40-man roster limit.

In other injury-related news:

• Nolan Reimold (hamstring) hit a home run for Double-A Bowie in the first of two games Sunday. With impending bad weather, it's likely Reimold will not play in the second game. He's expected to travel to Chicago with the team on Monday and be activated from the DL.

• Tsuyoshi Wada pitched well for Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, and has now strung together several good starts in a row. The left-hander's line from Saturday: 6 1/3 innings, five hits, two earned runs, six strikeouts and two walks. Wada had Tommy John surgery in May 2012.

• Wei-Yin Chen (oblique) was in the clubhouse Sunday, but Showalter said he's still unsure if the team will activate him before another Minor League rehab start. Chen pitched a pain-free outing Saturday for Double-A Bowie in his first rehab start. He threw five innings, five hits, five strikeouts and two walks. All four of his earned runs came in the fourth inning.

Derek Wetmore is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.